뉴스 라이브러리
“ I will prove my innocence to you “, an act that will cost your life.
Korea in 1978 was under the presidency of PARK CHUNGHEE, a prosperous presidency where the country experienced the most rapid economic growth. In the town of Gunsan, in the region of North Jeolla, the distillery Baekwha (백화양조) also enjoys this period, and quickly becomes famous for its liquor. It indeed won the first prize at the national liquor fair in 1950, and the two following years, continuing to grow its activity the decades that followed.
Proud of its success, the distillery will however know a tragic turn in 1978 which within a year will make it put key under the door. Here is the first polygraph use case from Korea!
April 8, 1978. Panic reigns in Baekwha, following the discovery of a mass in one of its liquor barrels: the naked body of a young eighteen-year-old student. KIM is a high school student in a commercial high school for girls, reputed as studious and endowed with great beauty. The boys from the male high school often visit her, hoping to win her heart, but it already belongs to KANG, second son of the president of the distillery branch. Knowing each other since primary school, the two teenagers ended up going out together in high school, KIM even going to spend nights at KANG’s, a daring act in a country that at the time did not see relationships outside of marriage with a very good eye. But while she came from a family with modest incomes, whose parents were teachers, her came from an affluent environment without limits.
When KIM’s body was found, questions immediately emerged: who is responsible for her death, and above all, why is she naked? KANG is then arrested, as being the one who last saw her. His remarks are confused, claiming an affair of jealousy and the fragile health of the young girl. The boys surrounding her, she quickly acquired a reputation as an easy girl, engaging in acts of promiscuity with them. When KANG heard that, he was mad with rage, he who already had the reputation of being a bad guy. But at that time, a national curfew had been imposed from midnight to 4am, and KIM was diligently preparing for her university entrance exam, so was this really the case?
It is around 4:30 PM that KANG meets KIM in front of her house to discuss. The two teenagers initially talk about everything and nothing, but quickly the boy suggests going to visit the laboratory of the Baekwha distillery, managing to enter it when the guard is absent for a few minutes. There, in this room on the second floor containing large barrels of liquor, they are alone. No one is upstairs, not a sound echoes in the corridors, only their conversation. KANG allegedly asked if the young girl had sexual relations with other boys, reminding her that he was her boyfriend. Intimidating, with an angry gaze, he pushed her into her limits.
KIM undressed, completely exposing herself in front of her partner to prove her innocence, where no trace or suspicious spot was strewn on her body. Then, suddenly having convulsion, she allegedly fainted. KANG believes she is dead, and panicking, he decides to throw her body into a barrel before taking her clothes and arranging them in such a way that one thinks of a suicide. Since the employers or the guard could enter any minute, it was necessary to act quickly, then he fled once the body was hidden in the water and the deed made up. Initially, the press thought of an unfortunate accident, but quickly wondered why, if she was unconscious, she had not awakened to contact with water.
But we will never have the answer to this question, or any other, because at the time, Korea did not have the technology necessary to perform an autopsy. The body had remained several days in the barrel, so it was difficult to examine it to get a clear picture. The rumors began to grow on all sides, even going so far as to say that he would have raped her then strangled her out of jealousy for his alleged relationships with other boys, or that she would have rejected him and that he drowned her in anger. It was also reported that the liquor sold in the previous weeks the discovery of the body would come from this barrel, and that as a result, consumers drink contaminated water.
Between August 26 and October 14, 1978, several trials found KANG guilty of the death of KIM, but the sentences decreased over the months. Initially, he received ten years in prison, reduced to five on appeal, then three, and finally two years and six months. Indeed, he was recognized as having several mitigating circumstances; he was a minor at the time of the events – the majority being twenty years old in Korea – and he thought she was dead. This could therefore not be a voluntary homicide in the eyes of justice. Lacking evidence, cameras, and witnesses, the only solution that remained to try to establish a semblance of truth was the use of technology that began to spread more and more in the United States: the polygraph, or a lie detector.
In total, thirteen questions were asked to KANG, the most important being:
- Did you meet KIM on the day of the incident ?
- Did you take off KIM’s clothes or make her take off her clothes ?
- Did you dump her body in the liquor barrel ?
- Do you know how KIM gained access to the second-floor lab of Baekwha Distillery ?
- Do you know how KIM died ?
But to all these questions, he replied ‘no‘. Nevertheless, the polygraph considered that he was lying, and that the case should be represented at the Supreme Court. Against all odds, the Court refused the results of the polygraph, not recognizing this technology and considering that it was not able to provide a reliable result. Finally, less than a year after the trials, an Act was passed in May 1979 stating that:
« The test results of the lie detector and its report are recognized only when the accuracy of the test results is guaranteed in light of various circumstances such as the performance of the machine, the mental state of the test subject, the question method, the knowledge, experience, and the situation of the test site.”
The final sentence of KANG was therefore three years of imprisonment for trespassing and abandonment of body. The newspaper Weekly Kyunghyang took over the case, and wrote a complete file about the victim, and the distillery. They made KIM look like a desperate girl looking for a rich man, not being satisfied with her family’s modest situation. Her parents were portrayed as having given her a bad education, and that the distillery had taken advantage to market its potentially contaminated liquor. Baekwha then bought the entire stock of produced magazines in order to burn them, but a reissue was published. The company did the same thing again, but the damage had already been done.
The distillery was forced to sell in 1979, before being bought by the Doosan group in 1985 then Lotte Liquor in 2009 where its rice alcohol continues today to be produced under the name Baekwha Soobok. As for KANG, he was released in 1981 after serving his sentence, and changed his identity to keep his anonymity and reintegrate into society. The theory that still remains today is that, his family being rich, he would have paid justice for having such a lenient sentence.
Do you think KANG killed KIM? Even if this story retains some grey areas, it had a strong impact on the police who began to use the polygraph from there. Is it then necessary that for progress and the common good, inhuman acts be committed? Give us your opinion in the comments!
Journalist: Pillet Anaïs
Translator: Pillet Anaïs
Sources: KSTATION TV, sous les photos
